Admiral sails into play-off. March 4 round-up

5 March 2014, 03:48

League newcomer Admiral completed its first regular season by clinching a spot in the play-offs.

Going into the final day of games, the team from Vladivostok knew that victory at home to local rival Amur would be enough to clinch eighth-place in the Eastern Conference, pipping last season’s runner-up Traktor to the post-season position.

At home to the weakest performer in the league this season Admiral was full of hope, and after a nervous start the team delivered a convincing 4-1 victory to set up a play-off clash with Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

The first period saw Amur have the better of the action, though, out-shooting the hosts 14-8 and sounding a few alarms on the bridge.

Around the league
Ugra sprang the surprise of the day with a 2-1 win at SKA. Veli-Matti Savinainen gave the visitor the lead on 29 seconds, and despite Kevin Dallman’s equalizer the points went to Khanty-Mansiysk thanks to a Nikita Gusev power play goal early in the second.

Matt Murley struck early in the third period to give Medvescak a 3-2 win at Slovan and confirm the Croatian team would take sixth place in its debut season. Medvescak now faces a play-off series against Lev.

Lev finished its regular season with a shoot-out defeat against Spartak. The Red-and-Whites have already opted out of this season’s Nadezhda Cup due to financial difficulties, but at least ended on a high note when Vyacheslav Kozlov settled the shoot-out after a 2-2 tie.

There were 4-2 wins for both conference leaders. In the East, Metallurg Magnitogorsk won at home to Torpedo, while Dynamo Moscow triumphed at Neftekhimik. Sergei Mozyakin led the way for Magnitka with 2+1, while Yury Babenko got Dynamo’s game-winner.

Torpedo’s loss opened the door for Salavat Yulaev to take fourth place with a narrow win over Vityaz. Tomas Zaborsky, Denis Khlystov and Ivan Vishnevsky put Salavat 3-0 up in 25 minutes, but Vityaz closed it to 3-2 before a scoreless final session.

Barys takes second place in the East, but its best-ever season has been marred by a stuttering finish. Tuesday’s 4-1 loss at Lokomotiv was the Astana team’s fourth in a row as well as a fourth straight win for the hosts. Loko’s pair of Latvian internationals, Mikelis Redlihs and Janis Sprukts, both found the net.

The day’s highest-scoring game was in Novosibirsk, where a 6-5 success for Sibir over Metallurg Novokuznetsk confirmed sixth place in the Eastern Conference and a play-off series against Ak Bars. Jori Lehtera and Jonas Enlund both scored twice as the home side opened up a 6-1 lead; Kuznya’s attempted fightback fell just short.

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KHL.ru is the official Web site of the Kontinental Hockey League. All KHL logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the KHL and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of KHL, ltd